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In this episode of the Ordinary Pastor Podcast, host Walt Alexander engages with Tim Kerr, a faithful pastor from Sovereign Grace. They explore Tim's journey from a missionary upbringing in India to his eventual calling in pastoral ministry. Tim shares insights about his family life, the importance of prayer in ministry, and how he discovered Sovereign Grace. The conversation emphasizes the need for a deeper understanding of faith and the transformative power of prayer and personal relationships in the church community. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

Last week, I interviewed Steve Teter—the pastor of Living Faith Church in Franklin, WV—on The Ordinary Pastor podcast. He shared something in that podcast that has stuck with me. When people are going through suffering, he said, we must point them to the place where God’s love is clearly displayed: the cross of Christ. He continued: “I usually liken [the love of God revealed in the gospel] to being in a raging river with the water running up to your neck, up to your nose, but there’s ground under there. You can stand on that rock, even if the river is powerful. You have a rock to stand upon.” Steve Teter If you’ve ever waded in a raging river and feared being swept away, you know the relief of feeling a rock to stand upon. The Greatest Temptation in Suffering Several years ago, Steve Teter preached the message above at our church. It is entitled “Trusting God in the Darkness.” It is focused on the temptations believers face in suffering and doubt, when walking in the dark. Our church was deeply affected. Steve taught us that the greatest temptation we face in suffering is the challenge to suspend judgment. To wait. To trust. To be patient. To refuse to draw conclusions about the goodness of God by what we see in the midst of temptation. As Os Guiness has written, “Suffering is the most acute trial that faith can face, and the questions it raises are the sharpest, the most insistent, and the most damaging that faith will meet. Here as nowhere else is the supreme challenge to suspend judgment.” So what do we do when we face this trial? How can we suspend judgment without losing our faith? The Good News for Those Who Suffer and Doubt In the sermon, Steve taught us that the reason we can suspend judgment is because: the name of our God is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! “What is the name of our God? Our God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that makes all the difference in suffering. All the difference. I can suspend judgment now in the darkness because knowledge of [the] love [of God] in Christ puts to rest any doubts about the goodness of my heavenly Father towards me. A person wrote, ‘There are facts of life in a fallen world that we will never be able to explain but must never explain away.’ Faith, however, can suspend judgment on these questions for there is no question we cannot leave with God. And this is so true if He’s the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can leave those questions with Him.” Steve Teter Wonderfully, when walking in the darkness, we can suspend judgment not merely because our God is sovereign but because our God is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Have Mercy on Those Who Doubt” Have you ever wondered how to obey the command, “Have mercy on those who doubt” (Jude 22)? This message will show you how. While he preached this message at our church in March 2023, the video was recorded at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville on June 18, 2023. Take a moment and listen. It will help you suffer well and wisely. And help you help others as well. Thanks for reading Sovereign Grace Churches! Subscribe for free to receive new posts. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

In this episode, seasoned pastor Steve Teter shares insights from his 37 years of pastoral ministry, emphasizing the importance of long-term care, suffering, and biblical faithfulness. Listeners will gain practical advice on pastoral care, sermon preparation, and maintaining joy in ministry. The Ordinary Pastor Podcast is available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Meet Steve Teter Walt: Thank you for coming. I’m on today with my friend Steve Teter. Excited to have you. How are you doing, Steve? Steve: Doing really well. Thanks. Walt: We’re plugged in and excited to talk over the interwebs and interview Steve. I’ve titled the series “Older, Ordinary Pastors Getting It Done.” A lot of people in our day and age have a microphone, and a lot of people think they have a lot to say, but I tend to think we need fewer microphones and more people who have the experience, the wherewithal, the wisdom, and the growth, and we need to deploy them. Particularly in Sovereign Grace, I have a burden for us to hear from these ordinary pastors getting it done, these older pastors. Walt: A little intro about Steve: Steve and his wife, Linda, have been married forty-six years this August. It’s like an eternity. They have five kids and eleven grandkids, and I know several of his kids are in the church with him. Steve has served as senior pastor of Living Faith Church in Franklin, West Virginia, for thirty-seven years. Hard to believe. Steve: Hard to believe. Growing Up in Franklin Walt: Steve, I wanted to begin by hearing your background: where you grew up and how you came to saving faith in Christ. Steve: I grew up here in Franklin. It’s a beautiful area, and I always wanted to move back. When I went to college, I started studying to be a veterinarian, but my older brother became a veterinarian, and I thought, there’s not room for two of us back in Franklin. We have a couple of other vets here as well. So I thought I’d go into dentistry, study it, and come back and practice with my dad. I’ve always loved this area. I never really wanted to live anywhere else. Walt: Franklin is a town of how many? Steve: About 750 people, and about seven thousand in our county. We have one stoplight in the whole county, a lot of mountains, a lot of woods, and a lot of wildlife. Walt: That’s very different from how a lot of our listeners grew up. What was it like growing up in that area? Steve: It was a wonderful time. My dad was a dentist, and we lived on a small farm, so I spent most of my life outdoors. I loved sports, and I knew a lot of people in the area. I had built-in accountability, because my parents knew a lot of people as well. Walt: Yeah. Steve: They were watching. That’s exactly right. It was wonderful growing up here. In some ways it was insulated, though as time goes on, with more and more media, less so. But it’s still a very rural area. Business-wise, it’s not a prosperous area, but it is beautiful, and it was a joy to grow up here. Then I went away to college at West Virginia University, for both undergraduate and graduate school. Steve: We did travel some. My parents would go to Gideon conventions, so we traveled to cities for vacations. I remember Houston, San Francisco, and Montreal. They would go to their conventions, and as kids we got to do fun things while we were there. It was a good time. Meeting Linda Walt: Did you meet Linda in Franklin? Steve: Yes. Linda’s father opened our first grocery store here in Franklin. She moved here in seventh grade, so that was quite a culture shock for her. I knew her in high school, we began to date in college, and we got married while we were both in graduate school. Walt: So you got married in graduate school and moved back to Franklin. You never lived anywhere else besides those years away? Steve: Never. My house is about two hundred yards from my parents’ house, where I was raised. Walt: Wow. Unusual, but powerful. Coming to Faith in Christ Steve: I had a wonderful father, who has passed away now, and I grew up in a Christian home and came to know the Lord at a fairly young age, which I’m very grateful for. I’d heard the gospel from my parents. They were involved in the Gideon ministry, which has a high view of Scripture. We attended a Methodist church, and when I was younger, we had a Methodist revival there. They would do week-long revivals, and one evening, as the preacher shared the gospel, he gave an invitation at the end. Steve: I was twelve years old, sitting between two friends. The Lord used that invitation to open my heart and regenerate it. I was convicted of sin, responded to the gospel, went forward, and prayed to receive Christ. The friends on either side of me did not. That has always stuck with me. They may have become Christians later on, but at that time they did not. Steve: As I think back, it’s always amazed me. I remember the pressure I felt, wondering whether to respond or not, but then I did, and I thank the Lord for that. I think God protected me from many things, because of my own personality and the sins I struggle with. Becoming a Christian at a young age was God’s grace in my life. Walt: Praise the Lord. Those stories never get old. Called from Dentistry to Pastoral Ministry Walt: You went away for dentistry, and you came back. I know a little bit about your story, but particularly with something like dentistry, where you’ve invested so much money and so much time, how did you discern the call to pastoral ministry? Steve: That’s a good question. Through the charismatic renewal, young people had come to Christ, including my older brother, and at the same time the denomination was drifting away from a high view of Scripture. My brother began to encourage my parents: “You should have a Bible study in your home.” That was 1975. So they started a Bible study in their home on Wednesday nights. Mostly young people came, and a few others, anywhere from half a dozen to thirty-five people. They continued it for seven years. When we kids came home in the summers, we’d attend, though when we were in college there were fewer people. Steve: When Linda and I came back from college, we decided, through my brother’s urging as well, that we couldn’t continue in the church we had been in. There were a lot of basic doctrines they no longer believed, regarding the atonement, the virgin birth, and other things. A lot of denominations were going through that. So we began meeting in our apartment, five of us, and then we invited others. After a few months, we had half a dozen people. We called a pastor to come lead our church, a man my brother was familiar with, and he led for a couple of years. Steve: To make a very long story short, we learned about Sovereign Grace Ministries, which at that time I think was People of Destiny, or whatever they were called. They had a leaders’ conference. Our pastor went, connected with some of the leaders there, and we began a process of adoption over the next three or four years. Steve: For me, the call to pastoral ministry really began when we joined Sovereign Grace. For the first time in my life, I saw a model of pastoral ministry that was compelling. I grew up in the Methodist church, and in those days (I don’t think it’s so much true now) pastors moved every few years. The way the structure was set up, they were hired and fired regularly, I’ll just say that. So there was no kind of family life, nothing compelling. When we joined Sovereign Grace, I saw a compelling model of pastoral ministry and care that I had never seen. I also saw a passion and a vision in the movement. At that point, I think God began stirring my heart. Confirming the Call Steve: I had been teaching and leading worship and Bible studies over the years. Others would say, “I really feel like God gives you insight into the Scriptures. I feel like you’re effective publicly.” The pastor who was leading our church at that time, who came from Sovereign Grace, said, “I think you’re called into pastoral ministry.” Others around me were saying… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

The Ordinary Pastor is passing to a new host, Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace in Athens, Tennessee. Walt shares his path from Cornerstone Church in Knoxville, through the Pastors College, to planting Trinity Grace, and tells how the gospel reached very ordinary people there. He then lays out his new role as Director of Leadership Development for Sovereign Grace: investing in aspiring leaders, encouraging current lead pastors, and developing extra-local leaders. Hosts: Jon Payne (Redemption Hill Church, Austin, TX) and Jared Mellinger (Covenant Fellowship Church, outside Philadelphia, PA) Guest: Walt Alexander (Trinity Grace Church, Athens, TN) Welcome and Introductions Jon: Welcome to The Ordinary Pastor Podcast. My name is Jon Payne. I’m the lead pastor of Redemption Hill Church on the north side of Austin, Texas. I’m here with my longtime co-host and friend Jared Mellinger, who’s the lead pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church outside of Philadelphia. And we have a very special guest, our friend Walt Alexander, who is the lead pastor of Trinity Grace in Athens, Tennessee. We’re all friends, we’re pastors, we’re fellow pastors in the Sovereign Grace family of churches. And we have a very special reason for welcoming Walt on today, which we’ll explain in just a moment. But first of all, guys, it’s always great to be on here with you. Thanks for joining me. Jared: Yeah, it’s great to see you guys. Walt: Yeah, great to be on, Jon. Thanks. Handing the Podcast to Walt Jon: Walt is not only a special guest, but he’s making probably the fastest transition ever from guest to host. So we’re introducing Walt not only as a guest on the podcast today, but we’re also going to be handing this podcast off to him. Jared and I received this podcast from C.J. Mahaney, Mickey Connolly, and Jeff, who hosted it and carried it on for a while, and now we’re going to hand it to Walt. We’ll explain in a little bit how he’s going to use it to serve our family of churches. But we wanted to use this episode, because of that transition, to introduce Walt to anyone who’s listening. For anybody who’s been in Sovereign Grace any length of time, you probably don’t need an introduction to Walt. But just in case you haven’t met him or haven’t benefited from his ministry, Jared and I want to take a couple of minutes to get to know you, Walt, and let listeners get to know you a little bit. So, Walt Alexander, tell us first of all about your path into ministry, and then maybe add in: when did you attend the Sovereign Grace Pastors College? We know you’re a graduate of that college, as Jared and I are. So tell us a little about your history into ministry. Walt’s Path into Ministry Walt: Yeah, I’d love to do that. I love to be on and share what’s going on and how the Lord has apprehended me and grabbed hold of me. This past Sunday, August 9th, I celebrated twenty-five years of being a believer. So it was one very ordinary summer for me, and yet extraordinary in the grace of God. God grabbed hold of my life, and I returned to the University of Tennessee for my third year. On the third day of class, I ran into some friends (or, not yet friends, soon-to-be friends) from Cornerstone Church, and I gradually made my way to Cornerstone Church, a Sovereign Grace church in Knoxville, Tennessee. It’s safe to say my life was ruined in a really good way. I was deeply affected by life in the local church, and I began to rethink everything and rebuild my life on the Word of God. Shortly thereafter I felt called to ministry, and about a year later I began talking with senior pastor Bill Kittrell, getting to know him and sharing some desires I had. That began a bit of a circuitous route into ministry. I stayed at UT, finished my degree, and served in campus ministry: evangelism, discipleship, things like that. Then I went away to a Presbyterian seminary in South Carolina for a year. It was a good setup. I came under the care of a Presbyterian church, so seminary was paid for, and I was able to take classes and study the Bible like I’d longed to do. But I found myself longing for the local church. In so many ways this was what I’d dreamed about, to be in seminary, and yet it didn’t feel right, because it was disconnected from Cornerstone Church and from the family of churches I had fallen in love with. Toward the end of that year I called Bill, sought his counsel, and asked if I could come back. He encouraged me to stay and finish seminary. But it was really the Lord’s kindness, because he said, “Well, if you want to come back, we can explore this together. Seminary in this context isn’t the only way into ministry for you.” So I came back and served on the campus of UT with Volunteers for Christ for a couple of years, and then, in God’s kindness, I went to the Pastors College in 2008–09. In many ways, yes, it was a circuitous route, but I think what the Lord was doing was giving me a heart and a vision for the local church that transcended my role. Like so many guys coming to Christ in the early 2000s, I was hugely influenced by John Piper, and I wanted to go and die on the mission field somewhere. But I felt like the Lord said, “Give your life to the church.” I’m not bringing much to the table, but that’s what I’ve sought to do for twenty-one years: give my life to the church. The Lord has been so kind. The pie in the sky for me was to be an elder or pastor at Cornerstone Church, and I had the privilege of going to the Pastors College, coming back, and serving there for nearly ten years, in a church I loved, in a city I loved. God’s been very kind to me. The Gift of the Pastors College Jon: Excellent. Just a quick note, and then I have another question for you, Walt. I know Jared would feel the same way, and all three of us would want to highlight the gift the Pastors College is to our family of churches. The three of us, who’ve known each other for years now, would all say the influence of that year is profound. There’s certainly not a week, not a message, that goes by that that year’s teaching, influence, inspiration, and principles of pastoring don’t affect everything I do, and I know you guys would say the same. Since we hope this podcast is going out increasingly to younger pastors and aspiring pastors, we want to continue to urge you to make the Pastors College a dream. If your call is to full-time ministry, we hope that path would lead to the Pastors College. And if you’re a pastor, we can’t commend investing enough in the Pastors College for future men. Walt is just another example of that. So, Walt, you were on staff there in Knoxville for a number of years, and now you’re not. Tell us what happened there and what led to planting the church. The Call to Plant in Athens Walt: Yep. I started serving on staff in 2009, and I was there happy and content. Well, most days, and they’d probably agree, but trying to be content, serving the Lord. Kim and I both felt God calling us to be involved in church planting in some way. In God’s providence, around 2017 we noticed God drawing a pretty distinct group of people from Athens, Tennessee. Athens is about forty-five minutes south of Knoxville, equidistant between Knoxville and Chattanooga, a pretty rural small town. These people were commuting forty-five minutes to an hour to attend church, to become members, to serve, and yet they had no desire to move to Knoxville. They had no desire to do anything beyond Sunday morning and basic church life in Knoxville. We started a community group down there, and it became increasingly clear to us that God was doing something in Athens. So in 2017 Bill announced his desire to plant there, and then he asked me to prayerfully consider going and leading that plant, which was quite an ask, since I had served with him for almost ten years. We took time to prayerfully consider why we would want to move to this place, and that’s what God led us to do: move here in 2018 and help launch Trinity Grace Church in October of 2018. Church P… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E12 - Comfort In Church Crisis by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E11 - Pastoring With Awe and Joy by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E10 - Pastoring Our Singing by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E9 - Our Hopes For Sovereign Grace Publishing by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E8 - A Tribute to Team Pastors by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E7 - Preaching Delivery by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E6 - Pastoring Toward Evangelistic Saints by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E5 - Fighting Self Pity by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E4 - SGC Church Planting, With Joel Shorey by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E3 - SGC Publication And The SGC Pastor's Website, With Ricky Alcantar by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com

S3E1 - Preaching Thoughts Pt1 by Sovereign Grace Churches This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sovereigngrace.substack.com